Nick Westrate (Prior Walter) in “Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches” at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, running March 24 through April 23. Photo by Margot Schulman.
“Angels in America” has been deemed Tony Kushner’s magnum opus. It’s a broadly panoramic and searing look at a very specific time in American history—the mid 1980s and the beginning of the AIDS crisis in this country. The subtitle, “A Gay Fantasia on National Themes,” pretty much says it all. Of his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Kushner has said, “it’s a play about a specific historical moment, and what it was like to be alive then, and in other ways, it describes things that are still very much with us.” In producing this play, Arena Stage had an interesting challenge on its hands: how to make such a popular and beloved piece new again and relevant to a contemporary audience, while staying true to the themes and political agenda that Kushner had in mind when writing “Angels”—needless to say, a pretty big ask from any theatrical team. Happily, in numerous ways, the Arena Stage team brilliantly succeeds.
…a must-see production of a classic that, despite being specific to its time period, remains ingeniously timeless.
The story is a fairly complex one. I personally recommend reading the play before actually seeing it. There is a poetic and philosophic complexity to Kushner’s language that, in my opinion, requires both a reading and a theatrical viewing in order to fully appreciate. Keep in mind, the entire play is a seven-hour production. Arena is putting on “Part One: Millennium Approaches” and offering a chance for DC theatre fans to see a one-night only staged reading of the second part, “Perestroika,” on April 17, 2023.
From the onset of this play, members of the audience become witting voyeurs in the lives of two couples: Joe and Harper Pitt and Prior Walter and Louis Ironson. It’s not long before it is revealed that Prior has AIDS. The remainder of this first part, in terms of Louis and Prior’s relationship, follows the headline-grabbing and hard-hitting realities of HIV and AIDS, along with the more nuanced and personal toll that the virus takes on individuals and their relationships. Louis isn’t sure that he can cope with the physical and mental diminishment of his partner. Louis’s instinct to run is the thing that, often, people are hesitant to admit out loud. Prior meanwhile is haunted by his own demons—literally, as Kushner gives us the character’s hallucinations in the forms of Prior I and Prior II. They embody ancestral spirits—the somewhat comical ghosts of centuries past who ironically can provide no real knowledge or help.
Joe Pitt is a rising star in the New York legal scene, a clerk for a judge and mentored by the infamous Roy Cohn. He is also a very confused and closeted Mormon. The relationship between Joe and his wife Harper pivots around his colossal confusion and her reliance upon pharmaceutical aids to make it through a day. Their relationship, like that of Prior and Louis, also languishes in a valley of dysfunction. It is through the painful dysfunctionalities of these two couples that Kushner examines Reagan-era policies, its egregious failures, and the bloody ideological battles that ravaged a nation dealing with an epidemic which killed so many. The ethereal beings that haunt the play reinforce the theme of alienation that pervades this production and its 80s world moment—perhaps not unlike our own world moment, in some ways.
Arena Stage’s production does everything it needs to do to bring audiences into the right frame of mind as they approach Kushner’s sweeping epic. The actors gel beautifully, and that they each play multiple roles adds a crucial dimension that might not otherwise exist. John Austin as Joe Pitt offers a truly vulnerable performance. He isn’t afraid to expose every facet of this character—the good and the unseemly. In many ways, he is the audience’s vicarious entrance into New York City circa 1985. Deborah Ann Woll as Harper Pitt wonderfully vacillates between anxious, small-town girl, lost amid the shadows and ghosts of a big city, and the valium-popping, oblivious housewife, playing recklessly amid those same shadows with her hallucinatory confidante, Mr. Lies.
Michael Kevin Darnall, as the suitably annoying and understandably terrified Louis, makes a definite impression. His is a voice with which the audience can easily connect, and with which the audience can easily find fault. Nick Westrate’s Prior really becomes the centerpiece of this show, emphasized all the more by the circular stage design with movable centerpiece on which we frequently encounter a hospitalized Prior. Westrate effortlessly moves from wounded and desolate patient to sharp-witted jokester who can wring the humor out of even the most morose moments—sometimes in the span of just a few seconds. It was an absolute thrill to watch the many faces of Prior spiritedly handled by Westrate.
Edward Gero as Roy Cohn is yet another magnificent master class to behold. Ostensibly, you want to just flat out hate this man, but Gero’s ability to give Cohn a hint of humanness makes the portrayal a complex one that theatre goers are left to work out for themselves. It’s the best kind of theatre, in the most revelatory of ways. Justin Weaks as Belize is the comic heart of this production. Weaks manages to make the scene which finds Belize and Louis arguing about politics and the nature of racism in America both poignant and hysterically funny. Another comedic scene stealer here is Susan Rome—in essentially all of her guises, The Rabbi, Hannah Pitt, and Ethel Rosenberg. Her timing could not be more perfect. Rounding out the cast is Billie Krishawn as The Angel, Emily, Sister Ella and the Homeless Woman. As the Angel, Krishawn is electrifying, particularly as she also signs her lines.
Arena Stage artistic director Molly Smith brought acclaimed Hungarian director János Szász in to direct “Angels in America.” Smith is a proponent of giving artists from other countries the opportunity to interpret American classics. Szász’s interpretation and consequent direction are beautifully fluid in such a way as to mine what is integral to Kushner’s work and make it malleable enough to fit our current time. Every element of this play is interwoven with a near musical ear. Szász of course had plenty of help, from Oana Botez’s brilliant costume design to Christopher Akerlind’s highly impactful lighting choices to Fabian Obispo’s incredible sound design.
There is one element of this production that is just a little bit of a head-scratcher. While Maruti Evans’ set design is certainly impeccably done and creates an atmosphere that is at once both ethereal and gritty (a difficult feat to accomplish), the overwhelming presence of sand is admittedly somewhat confusing. The stage is covered in sand, looking not unlike a golfing sand trap complete with rake. Sand also rains down upon the actors on cue. While this staging does facilitate some of the visual imagery we assume Szász is trying to evoke, at times it proves distracting, the literal grit interfering with the actors’ overall fluidity…then again, maybe that is the point. Overall, this is a must-see production of a classic that, despite being specific to its time period, remains ingeniously timeless.
Running time: Three hours and 30 minutes with one 15-minute intermission.
Advisory: Mature themes, sexual content, and nudity.
“Angels in America” runs through April 23, 2023 at Arena Stage (Fichandler Stage), 1101 Sixth Street SW, Washington, DC 20024. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 202-488-3300, Tuesdays–Sundays, 12 -8 p.m. or online. COVID Safety: Arena Stage requires that patrons, staff, and volunteers wear masks unless actively eating or drinking, regardless of vaccination status.
